The surviving companions in type Ia supernova remnants

The single-degenerate(SD)model is one of the most popular progenitor models of type Ia supernovae(SNe Ia),in which the companion star can survive after an SN Ia explosion and show peculiar properties.Therefore,searching for the surviving companion in type Ia supernova remnants(SNRs)is a potential method to verify the SD model.In the SN 1604 remnant(Kepler’s SNR),although Chandra X-ray observation suggests that the progenitor is most likely a WD+AGB system,the surviving companion has not been found.One possible reason is rapid rotation of the white dwarf(WD),causing explosion of the WD to be delayed for a spin-down timescale,and then the companion evolved into a WD before the supernova explosion,so the companion is too dim to be detected.We aim to verify this possible explanation by carrying out binary evolution calculations.In this paper,we use Eggleton’s stellar evolution code to calculate the evolution of binaries consisting of a WD+red giant(RG).We assume that the rapidly rotating WD can continuously increase its mass when its mass exceeds the Chandrasekhar mass limit(MCh=1.378 M_⊙)until the mass-transfer rate decreases to be lower than a critical value.Eventually,we obtain the final masses of a WD in the range 1.378 M_⊙ to 2.707 M_⊙.We also show that if the spin-down time is less than 10~6yr,the companion star will be very bright and easily observed;but if the spin-down time is as long as^10~7 yr,the luminosities of the surviving companion would be lower than the detection limit.Our simulation provides guidance in hunting for the surviving companion stars in SNRs,and the fact that no surviving companion has been found in Kepler’s SNR may not be definite evidence disfavoring the SD origin of Kepler’s SN.

Deformation behavior and microstructural evolution during hot compression of an a+b Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si alloy

The effect of processing parameters on the flow response and microstructural evolution of the a＋b titanium alloy Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si has been studied by conducting isothermal hot compressive tests at a strain rate of 0.01-10 s-1 at 860-1100°C. The true stress-true strain curves of the sample hot-compressed in the a＋b phase region exhibit a peak stress followed by continuous flow softening, whereas in the b region, the flow stress attains a steady-state regime. At a strain rate of 10 s-1, the alloy exhibits plastic flow insta-bilities. According to the kinetic rate equation, the apparent activation energies are estimated to be about 674-705 kJ/mol in the a＋b region and 308-335 kJ/mol in the b region, respectively. When deformed in the a＋b region, the globularization process of the a colony structure occurs, and a dynamic recrystallized microstructures are observed to show bimodal. Dynamic recrystallization can take place in the b region irrespective of starting deformed structures.

Semisolid die forging process,microstructures and properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy mobile telephone shells

A semisolid slurry of AZ31 magnesium alloy was prepared by vibrating wavelike sloping plate process,and the semisolid die forging process,microstructures,and properties of the magnesium alloy mobile telephone shell were investigated.The semisolid forging process was performed on a YA32-315 four-column universal hydraulic press.The microstructures were observed by optical microscopy,the hardness was analyzed with a model 450SVD Vickers hardometer,the mechanical properties was measured with a CMT5105 tensile test machine,and the fractograph of elongated specimens was observed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）.The results reveal that with the increase of die forging force,the microstructures of the product become fine and dense.A lower preheating temperature and a longer dwell time are favorable to the formation of fine and dense microstructures.The optimum process conditions of preparing mobile telephone shells with excellent surface quality and microstructures are a die forging force of 2000 kN,a die preheating temperature of 250℃,and a dwell time of 240 s.After solution treatment at 430℃ and aging at 220℃ for 8 h,the Vickers hardness is 61.7 and the ultimate tensile strength of the product is 193MPa.Tensile fractographs show the mixing mechanisms of quasi-cleavage fracture and ductile fracture.

A two-mode squeezed light based on a double-pump phase-matching geometry

We theoretically investigate the frequency-nondegenerate and frequency degenerate squeezed lights with a four-wave mixing process(4WM)driven by two pump fields crossing at a small angle.Different from a 4WM process driven by a single pump field,the refractive index of the corresponding probe field,np,can be converted to a value that is greater than 1 or less than 1 by an angle adjustment.In the new region with np<1,the bandwidth of the gain is relatively large due to the slow change in the refractive index with the two-photon detuning.In this region with an exchange of the roles of the pump and probe beams,the frequency degenerate and spatial nondegenerate twin beams can be generated,which has potential application in quantum information and quantum metrology.

Dt1-SWEET10a partner:Photoperiodic control of seed weight in soybean

Seed weight and size are critical agronomic traits essential for determining yield and composition,receiving significant attention throughout domestication(Meyer et al.,2012).Seed weight serves as a reliable indicator of average seed size due to their positive correlation.Regulation of seed weight involves both developmental and environmental cues,affecting cell proliferation or expansion(Li et al.,2019).

An overview on the novel heat-resistant ferritic stainless steels

Heat-resistant ferritic stainless steels are widely used in many high-temperature applications such as power plants,automotive exhaust manifolds and solid oxide fuel cell interconnects due to their low price,low coefficient of thermal expansion,high thermal conductivity,high thermal fatigue resistance,high creep performance and excellent corrosion resistance.High-temperature strength,formability,high-temperature oxidation resistance and creep performance are the main evaluation criteria for the application.With the development of relevant industries,higher requirements are proposed for the performance of ferritic stainless steels.Therefore,the development of a new generation of heat-resistant ferritic stainless steel has received extensive attention.In this presentation,we summarized the research progress of heat-resistant ferritic stainless steels including high-temperature strength,formability,high-temperature oxidation resistance and creep performance.Meanwhile,some suggestions are given for alloy composition design and microstructure optimization.The future research direction of heat-resistant ferritic stainless steels also prospected.

Correlation of Microstructure Feature with Impact Fracture Behavior in a TMCP Processed High Strength Low Alloy Construction Steel

The present article aims at elucidating the effect of thermo-mechanical controlled processing(TMCP), especially the finish cooling temperature, on microstructure and mechanical properties of high strength low alloy steels for developing superior low temperature toughness construction steel. The microstructural features were characterized by scanning electron microscope equipped with electron backscatter diffraction, and the mechanical behaviors in terms of tensile properties and impact toughness were analyzed in correlation with microstructural evolution. The results showed that the lower finish cooling temperature could lead to a considerable increase in impact toughness for this steel. A mixed microstructure was obtained by TMCP at lower finish cooling temperature, which contained much fine lath-like bainite with dot-shaped M/A constituent and less granular bainite and bainite ferrite. In this case, this steel possesses yield and ultimate tensile strengths of ~ 885 MPa and 1089 MPa, respectively, and a total elongation of ~ 15.3%, while it has a lower yield ratio of ~ 0.81. The superior impact toughness of ~ 89 J at-20 °C was obtained, and this was resulted from the multi-phase microstructure including grain refinement, preferred grain boundaries misorientation, fine lath-like bainite with dot-shaped M/A constituent.

High-Speed Friction Stir Welding of SiC_p/Al–Mg–Si–Cu Composite

A 17 vol%SiCp/Al–Mg–Si–Cu composite plate with a thickness of 3 mm was successfully friction stir welded(FSWed)at a very high welding speed of 2000 mm/min for the first time.Microstructural observation indicated that the coarsening of the precipitates was greatly inhibited in the heat-affected zone of the FSW joint at high welding speed,due to the significantly reduced peak temperature and duration at high temperature.Therefore,prominent enhancement of the hardness was achieved at the lowest hardness zone of the FSW joint at this high welding speed,which was similar to that of the nugget zone.Furthermore,the ultimate tensile strength of the joint was as high as 369 MPa,which was much higher than that obtained at low welding speed of 100 mm/min(298 MPa).This study provides an effective method to weld aluminum matrix composite with superior quality and high welding efficiency.

Effect of Microstructure on Tensile Behavior and Mechanical Stability of Retained Austenite in a Cold-Rolled Al-Containing TRIP Steel

In the present study, a quenching treatment prior to two-stage heat treatment was conducted on a Fe-0.28C-1.55Mn-2.06Al transformation-induced plasticity steel to tailor the final microstructure. Compared with the microstructure of the ferrite, bainite and blocky retained austenite obtained by conventional two-stage heat treatment, the microstructure subjected to quenching plus two-stage heat treatment was composed of the ferrite, lath bainite and film-like retained austenite. The corresponding tensile behavior and mechanical stability of retained austenite were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results show that the mechanical stability of blocky retained austenite grains is lower and most of them transform to martensite during the tensile deformation, which leads to higher ultimate tensile strength and instantaneous work hardening exponent. Film-like retained austenite has relatively higher stability, which could cause sustained work hardening and high ductility as well as product of strength and elongation.

Effect of W addition on hot deformation and precipitation behaviors of 19Cr2Mo ferritic stainless steel

The hot deformation behavior of 19Cr2Mo and 19Cr2Mo1W ferritic stainless steels was studied by using uniaxial hot compression tests on a thermomechanical simulator. The hot deformation was carried out at temperature ranging from 800 to 1150℃ and strain rates from 0.01 to 10 s^-1. Microstructure change and precipitation behavior during hot deformation were investigated by optical microscopy, electron probe microanalysis and transmission electron microscopy. The effects of temperature and strain rate on deformation behavior were obtained by a classical equation in Zener-Hollomon parameter. Since W addition to 19Cr2Mo1W steel could refine the size of the precipitates to enhance the precipitation strengthening and also had the effect of solution strengthening, the dynamic recrystallization, dynamic recovery and grain growth of 19Cr2Mo1W ferritic stainless steel were inhibited to a certain extent. The precipitate size of 19Cr2Mo1W steel was finer than that of 19Cr2Mo steel under the same deformation condition, which is due to the fact that the atomic diffusion is suppressed by W addition. W addition increased the amount of Laves phase in 19Cr2Mo1W steel, and thus Laves phase in 19Cr2Mo1W steel could be formed at higher temperature than that in 19Cr2Mo steel.

Ultra-fine-Grained Ferrite Prepared from Dynamic Reversal Austenite During Warm Deformation

The ultra-fine-grained ferrite(UFGF) with the size of less than 1 μm is often difficult to be obtained for low-alloyed steel in practical production processing.In this study,considering the rod and wire production process,a new method for preparing the UFGF with submicron scale is proposed by warm deformation of six passes with total strain of 2.6,followed by the cooling process in Gleeble-3500 thermo-mechanical simulator.The results show that the UFGF with an average size of 0.64 μm could be obtained via the phase transformation from austenite grains with an average size of 3.4 μm,which are achieved by the deformation-induced reversal austenization during the high strain rate warm deformation.The main driving force for the reversal transformation is the stress.And the interval between the passes also plays an important role in the reversal austenization.

Influence of austempering process on microstructures and mechanical properties of V-containing alloyed ductile iron

The influence of austempering time and vanadium addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloyed ductile iron has been investigated. The 0.30 wt% V-containing and V-free alloyed ductile irons were firstly austenitized at 850 ℃ for 1 h and then austempered in a salt bath at 300 ℃ for 2, 3 and 4 h, respectively. For the 0.3 wt% V-containing alloyed ductile iron, the transformation product （ausferrite） was finer, and a small amount of martensite and a large amount of stable austenite were obtained after austempering for 2 h, while higher hardness and compressive strength of 62.8 HRC and 3000 MPa were achieved. For the V-free alloyed ductile iron, lower hardness and compressive strength were measured to be 56.8 HRC and 2320 MPa. As the austempering time increases, the amount of stable austenite decreases in the V-containing ductile iron, typically for the start of the second stage formation （retained austenite （γτ） →α ＋ carbide）. Based on this, it is assumed that the optimal processing window （OPW） was narrowed due to the addition of 0.30 wt% V as compared to the V-free ductile iron. When the hardness of 0.30 wt% V-alloyed ductile iron was higher than 59 HRC, the highest wear resist- ance was obtained. The mechanical cutting plays a dominant role in abrasive wear process.

Influence of Finish Rolling Temperature on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a 19Cr1.5Mo0.5W Ferritic Stainless Steel

A 444-type heat-resistant ferritic stainless steel containing 0.05 wt% Ce(rare earth element) and 2 wt%(Mo+W) was adopted as an experimental material to study the effect of finish rolling temperature on microstructure and texture evolution as well as on mechanical properties and formability.The rolling processes contain hot rolling at two different finish rolling temperatures(860℃ and 770℃) and annealing,cold rolling and subsequent annealing.It was found that the microstructures after hot rolling and annealing could be refined by lowering finish rolling temperature.The resultant microstructures after cold rolling and annealing were hereditarily refined.Lowering finish rolling temperature can weaken α-fiber texture in hotrolled or cold-rolled ferritic stainless steel strip,while γ-fiber texture in the final product was homogeneously strengthened.Additionally,enhanced mechanical property and formability in terms of strength and average plastic strain ratio could be obtained via decreasing finish rolling temperature.

Weldability of 1000 MPa Grade Ultra-low Carbon Bainitic Steel

Maximum hardness test in weld heat-affected zone（HAZ）,oblique Y-groove cracking test and mechanical property test of welding joint of 1 000 MPa grade ultra-low carbon bainitic steel were carried out,so as to research the weldability of the steel.The results show that the steel has lower cold cracking sensitivity,and preheating temperature of 100 ℃ can help completely eliminate cold cracks,generating good process weldability.The increase of preheating temperature can reduce the hardening degree of heat-affected zone.The strength of welding joint decreases and hardness reduces when heat inputs increase,and excellent mechanical properties can be obtained when low welding heat inputs are used.Fine lath bainites of different orientations combined with a few granular bainites that effectively split the original coarse austenite grains are the foundation of good properties.

Combined analyses of translatome and transcriptome in Arabidopsis reveal new players responding to magnesium deficiency

Translational control of gene expression,including recruitment of ribosomes to messenger RNA(mRNA),is particularly important during the response to stress.Purification of ribosomeassociated mRNAs using translating ribosome affinity purification(TRAP)followed by RNAsequencing facilitates the study of mRNAs undergoing active transcription and better proxies the translatome,or protein response,to stimuli.To identify plant responses to Magnesium(Mg)deficiency at the translational level,we combined transcriptome and translatome analyses.Excitingly,we found 26 previously unreported Mg-responsive genes that were only regulated at the translational level and not the transcriptional level,during the early response to Mg deficiency.In addition,mutants of the transcription factor ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5(HY5),the H^(+)/CATION EXCHANGER 1 and 3(CAX1 and CAX3),and UBIQUITIN 11(UBQ11)exhibited early chlorosis phenotype under Mg deficiency,supporting their functional involvement in ion homeostasis.Overall,our study strongly supports that TRAP-seq combined with RNA-seq followed by phenotype screening could facilitate the identification of novel players during stress responses.

Preface

It is my honor to have this opportunity as a guest editor for Journal of Iron and Steel Research International (JISRI) to deliver some remarks on this specially organized column entitled Stainless Steels: Processing, Microstructures and Properties. Since stainless steels have many merits in their resistance to corrosion and staining, low maintenance and high-quality surface, they have long been developed as an ideal and widely used ferrous material for many applications in various industrial fields and daily household appliances where both the strength and anti-corrosion ability are required. In this respect, this special column stresses some recent research advances in several stainless steels regarding the alloy design, processing techniques, heat treatment, microstructures and mechanical behaviors as well as anti-oxidation and corrosion behaviors in certain environments.